Following on from
reading Harvesting the Stars part of Ireland’s National Road
Authority’s archaeological publication scheme this volume giving an
overview of archaeology that the NRA funded during its 20 year
existence caught my attention.
Particularly
interesting is the way that the developer led nature of the NRA’s
archaeology had a significant impact on the knowledge gained. Digging
where the road was going rather than where you expect to find
interesting archaeology, indeed the NRA deliberately planned the
route of the roads to try to avoid known sites of archaeological
significance.
Much of the
importance of this body of new information therefore comes form
filling the “white spaces” on the archaeological map, with
evidence of the lives of those of lower social status and the rural
who are so often absent from the historical and the archaeological
narratives.
While it is mostly a
celebration of the good work done under NRA’s auspices the authors
were not afraid to point out concerns that some methodological
practices may have limited the insights that might have come for
particular periods and types of activity.
Although particular
sites are discussed these are exemplars rather than the focus. It
feels as if the opportunity to step back and reflect on the big
picture is not common and one that the authors of the various
chapters relished. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a friend
from University among their number.
No comments:
Post a Comment